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30 MAY 2017

‌‌The 2017 OECD Business and Finance Outlook addresses some forces influencing economic developments that have contributed to recent surprises in elections and referendums. The common theme of these surprises has been voter discontent with globalisation and immigration that are perceived to be causes of unemployment and/or falling living standards for substantial parts of society.

This edition focuses on ways to enhance “fairness”, in the sense of strengthening global governance to ensure a level playing field in trade, investment and corporate behaviour, through the setting and better enforcement of global standards. A brief review of important developments contributing to post-war globalisation is provided and a number of policy domains are covered. These include exchange rates and capital account management, financial regulation since the recent financial crisis, the rising weight of state-owned enterprises in the global economy, competition policy to deal with international cartels, the cost of raising capital, responsible business conduct and bribery and corruption.